It was good old times, when Max Cavalera was still brutally screaming in Sepultura, and the Brazilian band strongly came on the international scene. The four men from Belo Horizonte could foresee a glorious future after Beneath the Remains and the huge Arise in 1990. It was the time when Sepultura was used to scream its rage against the Brazilian society that was oppressing the most penniless.

So, the band was very expected and could not take the liberty of disapointing its fans.The confirmation has not been long to come: in 1993 Chaos A.D. was released.
Let's be clear, the tone of this album is completely pessimistic and unfolds on a very strong rioter background. In this point of view, ?Refuse/Resist? is a track that is formidably bad-tempered and gathering, because of the power given to the the main riff that has become at the same time untouchable and famous throughout the world. Sepultura sinks our last doubts under a furious wave of Max Cavalera's bestial screams. The second track ?Territory? definitely kills everybody thanks to Igor Cavalera, a gifted drummer that floods us with a shower of beatings still more powerful. He is the real engine of the band that leads his brothers-in-arms all along this tribal and furious farandole. No time to recover, because here is a devilish ?Slave New World? that is close to perfection. The very good ?Amen? follows, then the surprising ?Kaiowas? which is a track that we do not know how to label it, (traditionally-made, experimental or both?), but that is really innovating. Right after this interlude, here comes again a torrent of pure thrash violence: ?Propaganda? and ?Biotech Is Godzilla? remind the previous albums for their spontaneity, and confirm the ability of guitarist Andreas Kisser. Then, we got ?Nomad? and the haunting ?We who are not as others?, sounding like a gloomy moan. The following track is the disturbing ?Manifest?, that tells with horror all the violence and the extremism of a certain kind of police. ?The Hunt? is one of the best tracks with perfect drums and a steady rhythm until the end. Just before the end, ?Clenched fist? and ?Polizia? punctuate this album in a very brilliant and forceful manner.

Finally, some would maybe emphasize and regret the fact that Sepultura has built its marketing essentially on the negative aspects of Brazil, but it is impossible to deny the value of these four wonderful musicians. Because Chaos A.D. is a courageous and almost perfect album: buying it is more than the choice of excellence, it is some kind of rallying.

"I don't think we should imitate the West; I think we should have our own thing," Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera says to Sam Dunn during an interview in the desert in "Global Metal."

His statement rings powerfully true on Chaos A.D., with Sepultura's overt Brazilian influences coming to the forefront of their special brand of thrash metal. Tribal instruments and rhythms make memorable appearances, and they contribute to a wonderful, infectious energy throughout the record.

Listened back over the album, and was somewhat bored with it. I wasnt that 'big' on this album in the first place and still reguarded it as a good album... but seemed borring and the songs sound too much the same.

Same here. The polical lyrics and the accessibility of the sound made this album historical in Brazil. Put Sepultura in mainstream musical scene, and become a symbol of heavy music among brazilians.
Althou far from perfect musically.